Senegal

Senegal has closed its borders with Guinea as West Africa braces against the spread of Ebola virus disease. The World Health Organization, which says the outbreak is presenting the toughest public health challenge in four years, has not recommended any trade and travel restrictions. Spread to Senegal is of particular concern because it is a leading tourist destination in the region, with arrivals topping 1 million in 2011, according to the World Bank. The outbreak has been blamed for 101 deaths in Guinea and 10 in Liberia.

Senegal has closed its borders with Guinea as West Africa braces against the spread of Ebola virus disease. The World Health Organization, which says the outbreak is presenting the toughest public health challenge in four years, has not recommended any trade and travel restrictions. Spread to Senegal is of particular concern because it is a leading tourist destination in the region, with arrivals topping 1 million in 2011, according to the World Bank. The outbreak has been blamed for 101 deaths in Guinea and 10 in Liberia.

GOREE ISLAND, Senegal - President Obama stared pensively out the “door of no return,” described in Senegal as the last exit for those boarding ships bound for the Americas, in a house where children, women and men were separated and shackled on their way to slavery. Obama, whose father was Kenyan and whose Kansan mother is believed to have had at least one slave among her ancestors, spent about a half hour in the two-story salmon-colored house filled with cramped cells that held slaves before their passage to America.

ACCRA, Ghana - On Thursday, my students and I visited a high school here in Ghana. When the headmistress told us that her students were "losing their culture" and "becoming too Western," we asked for an example. "Homosexuality," she said. "To us, it is an abomination. It comes from elsewhere. " That morning, coincidentally, President Obama was addressing the same issue at a news conference in Senegal. Asked about the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in support of gay marriage, Obama acknowledged that Africans have "different customs" and "different traditions" about homosexuality.

December 3, 2008 | Amy Scattergood, Scattergood is a Times staff writer.

"Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal," the recently published debut cookbook from Brooklyn chef and restaurateur Pierre Thiam, is a vibrant and compelling collection, and a terrific introduction to a less familiar cuisine. Beautifully shot by Adam Bartos, Thiam's book reads like a tour guide, with recipes for popular African street food, hearty traditional stews, and dishes showcasing the country's Portuguese and Vietnamese influences, as well as the significant imprint of French colonialism (Senegal was a French colony until 1960)

Serigne Saliou Mbacke, 92, spiritual leader of the Mourides, the most powerful Muslim brotherhood in Senegal, Africa, died Friday in the city of Touba. Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade declared a three-day period of national mourning in honor of Mbacke, who was the president's religious advisor. Mbacke is credited with helping to build up the Muslim holy city of Touba, which is now one of the largest cities in the country, with a population of about 1 million. It includes a Muslim university with about 5,000 students, a large mosque and a public library.

The tallest high school basketball player in California and maybe in the nation is 7-foot-5 Mamadou Ndiaye , a native of Senegal who has been cleared by the Southern Section to play this season for Huntington Beach Brethren Christian. "That's a legit 7-5 without shoes," Coach Jon Bahnsen said. Ndiaye, a junior, attended Simi Valley Stoneridge Prep last season and received a medical hardship waiver from the Southern Section to play this season. His guardians reside not far from Brethren Christian, which competed in Division 5A last season.

Sandy Valdivieso and her husband intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal. They ended up almost 7,000 miles off-course in Dhaka, Bangladesh. How something this bizarre could happen illustrates how a single mix-up on an airline's part can cascade into a travel nightmare of epic proportions. It also highlights how customer service can be found lacking, particularly in light of the fact that Valdivieso spent months trying to secure some sort of compensation from the carrier, Turkish Airlines, but received nothing but runaround.

DAKAR, Senegal - President Obama on Friday touted his vision to reduce hunger in Africa and the developing world by injecting new business and science initiatives into farming. The president emphasized food security while touring Dakar, Senegal's capital, saying far too many people on the continent endure poverty and chronic hunger. He also announced that Senegal had become the 10th country to join the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a Group of 8 plan that has seen $3.7 billion pledged in private investments in Africa.

THEY are known as "the candidates," and the test they face is desperate, dangerous and completely illegal. The odds are about the same as Russian roulette. Yet nearly every mother wants her son to undergo the test and nearly every young man on the faded and tattered streets of Senegal's fishing villages wants to be a candidate. To become a candidate is to be gilded with heroism. To stay behind with the women, the boys, the old men and the cowards is to know shame.

President Obama's trip through sub-Saharan Africa this week appropriately elevates the region's prominence in the administration's pantheon of foreign policy priorities. Obama is using the tour to promote African democracies, encourage trade and appeal to young people - and, importantly, to dispel the criticism that his presidency has been so preoccupied with other parts of the world that it has given Africa short shrift. As he visits Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, Obama has the opportunity to highlight some of the region's more vexing social and geopolitical issues.

DAKAR, Senegal - President Obama on Friday touted his vision to reduce hunger in Africa and the developing world by injecting new business and science initiatives into farming. The president emphasized food security while touring Dakar, Senegal's capital, saying far too many people on the continent endure poverty and chronic hunger. He also announced that Senegal had become the 10th country to join the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a Group of 8 plan that has seen $3.7 billion pledged in private investments in Africa.

DAKAR, Senegal - President Obama arrived in this corner of West Africa to deliver messages about civil society and good governance, democracy and development. Senegal's message to him was simpler: Welcome home. The greeting was plastered on signs and T-shirts wherever Obama went Thursday during his first full day of a weeklong, three-country trip to Africa. Although Obama was born and largely raised in Hawaii, his father was born and is buried in Kenya, and on this day Senegal treated the president as one of its own. Lampposts were covered with signs reading, "Welcome home, Mr. President.

GOREE ISLAND, Senegal - President Obama stared pensively out the “door of no return,” described in Senegal as the last exit for those boarding ships bound for the Americas, in a house where children, women and men were separated and shackled on their way to slavery. Obama, whose father was Kenyan and whose Kansan mother is believed to have had at least one slave among her ancestors, spent about a half hour in the two-story salmon-colored house filled with cramped cells that held slaves before their passage to America.

Sandy Valdivieso and her husband intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal. They ended up almost 7,000 miles off-course in Dhaka, Bangladesh. How something this bizarre could happen illustrates how a single mix-up on an airline's part can cascade into a travel nightmare of epic proportions. It also highlights how customer service can be found lacking, particularly in light of the fact that Valdivieso spent months trying to secure some sort of compensation from the carrier, Turkish Airlines, but received nothing but runaround.

Three years ago, Louisville sophomore center Gorgui Dieng couldn't speak English. Last year, he didn't know how the NCAA tournament worked. When Morehead State eliminated Louisville in the first round, Dieng said he asked his coaches, "Why can't we play anymore?" He wasn't kidding. "I had no idea," he said. "I didn't know Sweet 16 last year. Honest. " Louisville has come a long way to reach its first Final Four since 2005, after finishing seventh in the Big East Conference.

After Sri Lanka, India, Israel, Britain, Pakistan and Bangladesh, now Senegal has its first female premier ("Senegal Premier Fired; Woman Named," March 4). Will a woman in the U.S. ever get the opportunity to head the government? FAUZIA JAMAL KHAN Tustin

A Chadian court sentenced a former president and 11 rebels to death for crimes against the state, an official said. A commission of inquiry concluded that former President Hissen Habre killed tens of thousands of opponents during his eight years in power. He was ousted in 1990. Habre is living in exile in Senegal, where he also is awaiting trial on charges of torture and murder. Senegal is unlikely to extradite him.

LAGOS, Nigeria - Incumbent Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's move to swiftly concede defeat after Sunday's presidential runoff election is being viewed as a major positive step for democracy in a region better known for military coups and violence-tinged election campaigns. Wade, 85, who faced a massive public backlash after defying a constitutional provision limiting presidential terms to two, was defeated by a former ally, Macky Sall, 50. Wade, who had been in power for 12 years, was seeking a third term despite his age and the fact that he developed the two-term limit.

At dusk, people hunker down for the evening, holding portable radios to their ears and clustering in doorways to peer at fuzzy black-and-white televisions. Shops are boarded up and hawkers flee before nightfall. The nights belong to the protesters. Most begin peacefully with the demonstrators seated on the ground, arms crossed, as they demand that their 85-year-old president step down. "The old man is dead," they chant. "We have had enough. " Then, stones are hurled and police retaliate with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.